773 



PARLIAMENT 



clergy "till form a separate estate ; but the Lords 

 Spiritual Mill sit in the I'pper House. Tin- Arch- 

 I.I-!M>|- of Canterbury innl York, niul the Hi-hop- 

 of l.uii. Inn. iMiilmni, and Winchester me always 

 Mimmoned to parliament ; tin- other bisho|m are 

 also minimoncd, Imt the junior menilioi* of the 

 episcopal liench are excluded liy the acts fur the 

 creation of new hi-lioiuic-, in which it is provided 

 that the niiinlier of Lorfa Spiritual is not to !* 

 increased beyond the numW as it xt.xxl in 1H4I1, 

 when the see of Manchester was fniiinle<l. The 

 lairds Spiritual ilo not vote as a, separate onler ; in 

 other word-, a hill may pa.ss in tin- House of Lords 

 though all the liiln>|>* vole against il. 



7V,,- l.ortl* TVwt/wra/. The lords or greater liarons 

 were originally those who hel'l lands ami honours 

 of the kin;: liy the more dignified kinds of feinlal 

 service. They were barons hy tenure, and as such 

 entitled to leccivc the kind's writ ; among them 

 selves they were ]>eeni or equals. In course, of 

 time the writ became the evulcncc of title to a 

 peerage; lint since the 1.1th century peers have 

 always been created hy a patent from the crown, 

 specifying the title hy which the new peer i- to 

 be known, and the heirs to whom liis dignity is to 

 -ml. The titles now in use are duke, mari|iii-. 

 earl, viscount, and lianin (on which see separate 

 articles); a peer is named as being of a par 

 ticular place, but it in no longer necessary that 

 he should have any land or feudal rights in the 

 place named. In other words, our aristocracy is 

 no longer a close feudal aristocracy : it owes its 

 e\i-t.-n,-c t.i the eiowii, ami the crown may inci 

 the nutnlxT of IKS-- at pleasure. This is a very 

 ini|Mirtaiit rule, for the right to create new pecre 

 enables the crown i.e. the ministers gOWItiBg in 

 the name of the crown, and enjoying the confidence 



of the House of C ions to overcome the re-ist- 



ance of the House of l^u.U. Of late yearn the 

 mere threat to create new poors has IM-CII found 

 sufficient, RS may IH; seen on referring to the his 

 toiy of the Reform Act of 1832. The dignity of 

 |>eerige was always a hereditary dignity ; the 

 blood of the holder wax ennobled, lint the sons 

 of a peer, though they bear courtesy titles and are 

 nominally ennobled, are commoner- for all le-al 

 and political purposed. This again i- a iiiost im- 

 jHirtant riili-, Uvaiise it prevents the nobility from 

 DMOSBJBg a closely organised caste. It seeing that 

 the crown could always create a man a peer for 

 his life ; but it was resolved in the rase of Lori) 

 Wensleydale, in \M~ift, that a life )>ecragc, even it 

 followed up by a writ of summon- to parliament, 

 would not entitle the holder to sit in tin- House of 



Lord*. Since the Wcnsleydale ease the I, ends of 



Appeal, appointed to take part in the judicial 

 bii-inenii of the House, have OMB made life peer- 



by statute In lv;< there were 411 1 | i- on the 



roll of the lion of l.oids; in IH!N, Ml, 12 lieiiig 

 minors, of thcM peerages I'.i.'l. m rather mote 

 than one third, have been created since the licgiii- 

 ning of tin- Mltli century. 



In ancient times the prerogative right to create. 



pecm Wait Used hilt sparingly ; thele Wele only 



Mime Mt or at I,or.ls Temporal in the parlia- 

 ment, of the l.'ith and Kith centuries. The- mini 

 l-r of Ixirds Spiritual wan mlin-ed by the removal 

 of ahlxiU and prior, at the Reformation to 26, and 

 ban not since U-en inerea-c.1. Four -at H.S i 

 enUtiven of the lii-h Clinrch from Isoo doun to 



liwwtAblishtnent in iHfin. In conferring )-er 

 apex the Stuait kin^ii were mon- j^'neroim, or more 



ihan their piiMlecexiors. At the Kevoluti.m of 

 M88 the minil-cr st<Hxl nt alxuit 1.10. On the 

 ** leorgc I the leaders of (! House 



of Lord* proposi-d to restrain the crown from 

 ulilin- to the then existing nnnilM-r of IT* pei'i- 

 ges ; Imt thin scheme was vehemently opposed 



in thi* House of Commons, and finally 



Pining the rei-n of Ceorjje III. |M-er- \\eie ci..,-ile,| 



I ly. It was the avowed policy of the 



younger Pitt to till the House of holds with the 

 wealthiest traders and landowners, and so to Ineak 

 down the family and peisonal factions into which 

 a small arist<K-ratii- asscmlily tends to divide it-elf. 

 With this object lie conferred peerages so la\i-hly 

 that the numU-r created by Ceor^c II ! 



In Kf.KI the Commons formally admitted 'that 

 the judgments of parliament In'lonj; to the Lords 

 and not to the Commons.' The' Hoii-e of I^mls is 

 a court of final appeal for all parts of the I niled 

 Kingdom ; it exercisi-s original jurisdiction in 

 peerage caoes, in trials of peers for treason or 

 felony, ami on Imjienchmi'iits (i|.v.) by the Com- 

 mons. When the House is sittinx judiciallv 

 only those members who hold or have held hi^li 

 judicial office take part in the proceedings. Lay 



{>eere formerly took part and voted on appeals ; 

 >ut this practice was justly regard el ns a scandal. 

 In IS44 some lay peers announced their intention 

 to vote in the case of the (Jucen r. Daniel 

 O'Connell, but they were persuaded to retire, and 

 the case was decided by the lej;al ineinbere of the 

 House. In its le-islative cajiacity the House may 

 deal with any matter atlectin^' the puhlic interest, 

 and it claims the rijrht to initiate hills which 

 directly alfect it own rights and privileges. By 

 a convention of long standing, the Lords respect 

 the right of the Commons to initiate money lulls ; 

 they may accept or reject a money bill, hut they 

 do not amend it in detail. Any mcmlicr of the 

 House may introduce a hill, and ask that it may 

 be read a first time ; the ' reading ' is of a formal 

 character the bill is laid on the table, and the 

 title is read out by the clerk. If the House con 

 Bents to read the bill a second time it accepts the 

 general principle of the measure; the bill is then 

 referred to a committee of the whole House, or to 

 a select committee, to lie amended in detail ; it 

 may then be repoite.l to the House and read a 

 third time and passi-d. If the bill is afterwards 

 pas>ed, or bos already been passed by the 

 Commons, it only requires the royal assent to 

 liccoine an act of parliament. This assent is 

 given by the sovereign in person, or by commis- 

 sioners representing the sovereign ; the Lords are 

 present in their places; the Commons, headed 

 liy their Speaker, attend at the bar of the 

 I/ord.s ; the clerk of parliaments utters the Norman- 

 French formula, ' Le Hoy (or La Heine) le veult.' 

 Ill the ease of a money bill the royal assent is coupled 

 with an expression of thanks for the 'benevolence' 

 of parliament. The clerk endorses on the bill the 

 date of the royal assent which turns ii into an act. 

 If tin- sovereign were to refuse assent the form 

 would he ' Ix- I toy (or La Heine) s'avisera" the 

 King (or Queen) will think about it. Itut since 

 the cabinet council became the chief power in the 

 state this form of refusal has never liecn heard. 

 Ministers take the lead in the business of legisla- 

 tion ; they obtain the assent of tlir sovereign on the 

 one hand, and of parliament on the other; all open 

 conflict of powers is avoided. Queen Anne refused 

 her assent to a Scotch Militia Hill ; but since that 

 time the royal assent has licen given to every bill 

 which pa-se.l the two Houses. Hills which await 

 the royal assent are usually deposited in the House 

 of Lords for that purpose; but a money bill, after 

 .ig the Lords, is leturned to the Speaker of the 

 Commons, and is brought by him to ttic bar of the 

 Lords to ic.eive the royal as-ent. 



/'" Hi l'riri/i-i/ix. Memliors of the 



House of Lords were formerly required to sit 

 according to their precedence, but this rule is no 

 longer observed. 'I he bishops sit to the right of 

 the woolsack ; on the same side is the bench usually 



